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Apple Intelligence features explained - everything you need to know about Apple AI and when you can use it
By John-Anthony Disotto,
5 hours ago
The iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Pro are here and Apple’s next best iPhones are the 'first iPhones built from the ground up for Apple Intelligence.' This year’s iPhones introduce bigger screens, faster chips, better cameras, new colors, and a snazzy Camera Control button made for Visual Intelligence.
The iPhone 16 lineup launches on September 20 and will come with iOS 18 and no Apple Intelligence features. That's because Apple Intelligence won’t be available until iOS 18.1 , iPadOS 18.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1 are released, when lots of the advertised features come to your Apple devices.
If that sounds hard to understand and a bit complicated, then we've done all the hard work for you. Here’s every Apple Intelligence feature, what device you'll need, and when you can expect to use them.
Writing Tools
When is it out? iOS 18.1 (October)
What device will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
(Image credit: Apple)
Imagine Grammarly, but Apple. Apple Intelligence's Writing Tools allow you to proofread text, rewrite text in your choice of tone of voice, quick reply to messages or emails, and even summarise conversations in group chats.
These new tools will be available across iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, completely removing typos from your life and at the same time creating a potential dystopian future where every Apple user sounds exactly the same.
Summaries
When is it out? iOS 18.1 (October)
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
Summaries are a huge part of what Apple Intelligence offers, whether that's summarising group chats, as we mentioned above, or emails in the Mail app. On any webpage you can now summarize articles with just the press of a button, built-in to Reader on Safari. The most impressive use of summaries, however, is with notifications where your Apple device will condense notifications and prioritise them to prevent distractions.
Siri redesign
When is it out? iOS 18.1 (October)
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
(Image credit: Apple)
Your favorite voice assistant is getting a complete redesign, so much so that the changes will arrive gradually over the next few months. Initially Siri will get a completely new look on Mac, iPhone and iPad. On the iPhone and iPad it will pulsate from the edges of your device when activated, and on Mac you’ll be able to place Siri wherever you want to.
In iOS 18.1, Siri will get smarter thanks to Apple Intelligence, allowing you to ask follow up queries and more difficult questions. You'll also be able to interact with Siri by using Type to Siri, so when you're out in public you don't need to talk out loud to a virtual assistant. While we've had accessibility features that allow typing to Siri in the past, this new design allows you to choose between voice or text without opening Settings.
Photos improvements
When is it out? iOS 18.1 (October)
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
(Image credit: Apple)
The Photos app with Apple Intelligence will add Clean Up, Apple's competitor to Google's Magic Eraser and in our testing it works really well. You can simply select an object and remove it completely from a photo, just like magic.
Searching within the app will also be much improved by the ability to use natural language prompts and find exactly what you're looking for in seconds. You can also create Memories from prompts, a more curated version of the Photos apps' current Memories offering.
Mail
When is it out? Later this year
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
The Mail app gets a whole lot easier to use thanks to Apple Intelligence. Not only will you be able to use smart replies, as mentioned above, but Mail will now prioritize your most important emails, summarize them, so you don't have to read the whole thing, and categorize every incoming message for you.
Speech to text
When is it out? iOS 18.1 (October)
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
Transcription is excellent on iOS 18.1 thanks to Apple Intelligence. With Apple's AI transcription tools you can now record phone calls and turn them into notes (don't worry everyone on the call will be alerted that this tool is in use).
Not only can you record calls, but you can even use the Notes app for voice recordings, perfect for combining with other Apple Intelligence tools, like the summaries, to get a quick idea of what's been said.
Visual Intelligence
When is it out? Later this year
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max
(Image credit: Aplpe)
Visual Intelligence is the snazzy new iPhone 16-exclusive Apple Intelligence feature and it's seriously cool. Imagine Google Lens, but Apple. By pressing and holding the new Camera Control button, you'll launch Visual Intelligence which allows you to search for anything you point your camera at.
In Apple's presentation at the 'Glowtime' event , the feature was demonstrated by a man taking a photo of his friend's dog, getting the name of the breed in an instant. You'll also be able to use Visual Intelligence with Google and ChatGPT in the future.
Interested in Visual Intelligence? Read our hands-on iPhone 16 review or our hands-on iPhone 16 Pro review to see what we think of the phones it's available on.
Genmoji
When is it out? Later this year
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
(Image credit: Aplpe)
Genmoji is exactly what it says on the tin: generative emoji. Want to see a dinosaur on a skateboard? You can. How about a frog playing a banjo? Yep. Pineapple on a pizza? Nope, too far.
With Genmoji, any combination of emojis you can think of can combine to create AI-generated versions of everyone's favorite yellow smiley face.
Siri 2.0
When is it out? 2025
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
Expected in 2025, Siri's most impressive Apple Intelligence feature will arrive: The ability to have on-screen awareness and reply to your prompts based on the thing you're doing.
This is a seriously impressive use of AI and one that we can't wait to use. Siri's major overhaul has been rumored to arrive with iOS 18.4, but we'll need to wait and see to know for sure.
Image Playground
When is it out? Later this year
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
(Image credit: Apple)
You've seen the weird AI-generated images that look like Pixar with no soul? Well Image Playground is exactly that. Apple's image generation tool lets you draw pictures in notes and quickly improve them or imagine anything you want in almost in any app.
Expect this feature towards the end of 2024. How useful it is? Time will tell.
ChatGPT Integration
When is it out? Later this year
What iPhone will you need? iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, iPhone 16 Pro Max, iPad with M-series chip, Mac with M-series chip
(Image credit: Apple)
Last but not least, Siri will get ChatGPT integration at some point in the near future allowing you to send more complex prompts to OpenAI's server instead of Apple's.
You'll have to grant access every time you do it, and Apple has made it very clear that privacy in Apple Intelligence is pivotal, so this might be the best way to interact with the world's most famous chatbot.
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